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amber_warden's review against another edition
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Violence, and Trafficking
jtbooklover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Violence and Trafficking
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder
namaya's review against another edition
0.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Abandonment
now_booking's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of this is that both Cort and Anya have been slaves since childhood and when Cort wins a fight against the odds, he wins Anya and decides he wants to keep her. But that’s not in line with the plans of his owner.
For me, I wasn’t really feeling the emotional connection of the romance- to me it wasn’t believable or revealed in a convincing way. Neither of the main characters’ internal monologues matched the sudden apparent deep feelings they suddenly had for each other. I didn’t even particularly feel the erotic angle much- the issue is that because of the theme of sexual exploitation and the characters resultant attitude to intimacy, the intimate scenes didn’t feel sexy- they felt… not forced, but just there to be there. The spicier scenes were in fact purposely drug-influenced to get through them so it was just… uncomfortable to read. I also found the writing style kind of repetitive- like we get it, everyone in the book has gone through immense child abuse and is not expected to survive- I feel like this message was repeated almost every page as though the reader might forget the horrors these children were going through. I thought this could have been better edited and the repetition could have been sacrificed for more emotion-building between Cort and Anya and even between Cort and Maart, his best friend.
Overall, this wasn’t horrible. I just didn’t love it but I’m sure it has an audience.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts